Battlestar HYPERION VOL 5: Survival Instincts
by Jim Quigley
Summary: Now on the move, Battlestar HYPERION and her fleet continue their search for survivors.
1. Chapter 1

**HYPERION TASK GROUP**

**Volume 5: Survival Instincts**

By Jim Quigley

Spoilers/Disclaimers: This story begins on Day 211 (84 days after Volume IV)

It had been over seven weeks since the installation of the transitional government of the fleet. Tillman only agreed to the formation of a government if only two conditions were meet. One was he would have total control of the military and in the case of emergencies the entire fleet. The other was he could appoint the transitional council. Knowing that somewhere the President of the Colonies still existed. He modeled this administration after his hometown government establishing a temporary council consisting of seven members that would represent the men and woman of the fleet. Tillman installed Saul Blythe, Kendrick Ralls, Thomas Sylvan, and Amy Lorene as the temporary councilmen. He also appointed Paul Davenport of Delphi City and Emily Crimmons of Picon City who were sitting council members of their respective worlds. He then appointed Joseph Redman as the council's Chairman. This post would have the same duties as mayor of a city or town and leader of the council. The appointment of Kendrick Ralls over Lankaster Jorden was a very controversial due to Ralls previous association with the Black Market. Ralls' actions over the last few months had earned Tillman's trust. He had become something of a leader among the civilians that had been working on the MYSTIC and always volunteered for the repair details. Jorden was upset that he was not given one of the temporary transitional seats considering his previous experience in the government and he let it be known. Jason knew he couldn't put Jorden on the council, fearing he would try to regain control of one of the fleet's refinery ships. The government was being run from AULUS.

Amanda Walker who is five months pregnant had taken over running the fleet's new Logistics Office from Cmdr Roberts who finished his diloxin treatments. He decided not to retake the post but rather stay as an advisor to the Admiral. The office was in charge of handling requests and transferring materials between the military and civilian vessels. Walker recruited Kester Rhodes to handle and assign all repair details. Rhodes was best suited for this task as he was basically been doing this job anyway since TERTIUS joined the fleet. One task that Admiral Tillman assigned his former tactical officer was to evaluate existing Viper Squadron assignments and make reassignment recommendations.

**HYPERION – WARDROOM (1700 hrs)**

The senior staff had assembled for an extended briefing. Commander McKnight, Major Canton, Dr Keegan and Major Nix were there as usual. Also joining them was Commander Jones, Colonel Walsh and Tillman, Major Timlin, Lt Walker and Commander Roberts. They were waiting for Admiral Tillman who was still on the wireless with the CIC.

"How is Major Jackson's rehab coming?" Roberts asked Keegan.

"It's coming along. She still thinks she'll be able to fly again. But, I don't see it happening. I don't know if that rod will ever come out of her collarbone." Keegan replied as he sipped his coffee.

"I can talk to her if you think it will help?" Roberts replied know how determined Jackson can be.

"No let her rehab at this pace. It gives her a purpose." Keegan said before Tillman returned to the table.

"Sorry for the delay." Tillman said as he took his seat.

"Lt. Walsh, I would like a quick rundown of the fleet's amount of viper and raptor status" Tillman asked.

"Currently, we have one hundred and three mark VII operational and thirteen out of service, Eighty-six mark II's operational, six out of service and five unassembled in storage. Thirteen Raptors operational and two are offline, Three Prototype Raptors, Two Stealth-stars. I didn't include the two Mark One vipers or the Javelin class scout ship that are probably older than TERTIUS itself." She answered.

"How did TERTIUS get a hold of a Javelin scout ship? One was given to Commander Cain." asked Walsh.

"CEREBRUS traded it for a mark two emergency genny about a month ago. Colonel Tillman is restoring it to operational status. I didn't see a problem." Walker replied.

"Has there been any sign of Colonel Wright and CEREBRUS since they went AWOL ten days ago?" Timlin asked.

_CEREBRUS was a sore subject with the Admiral. Wright had repeatedly voiced his displeasure not being released from the fleet as scheduled to search for GOLIATH. After their last disagreement Wright plotted to leave the fleet with or without orders. Wright knew he could count on just about all of his crew from TANTALUS to back him. The only issue would be the Black Knights, Voight and his crew was by the book. They would never support his decision to leave. Wright and Gale knew pilots from the different squadrons and felt that if they were presented with an option some of the pilots would join his cause. Wright then scheduled combat training between most of the viper squadron. That is when Wright made his move. He ordered an armed detail to escort the Knight's deck crew to a shuttle and told his crew his intensions. The only member of his crew to disagree was Petty Officer Paula Markesan who was then escorted to the shuttle as well. As CEREBRUS broke formation, they released the shuttle and warned Voight that if they tried to land he would open fire on the shuttle. A total of twelve pilots, mostly younger, left formation and joined CEREBRUS before jumping._

"We've sent out raptors to the surrounding quadrants with no luck." McKnight replied.

"They're on their own now." Roberts began knowing it was now a dead subject. "What about the civilian fleet?"

"MYSTIC's food and grain output is normal. The two refinery ships combined are at thirty-eight percent capacity. Captain Pyne of CARPUS thinks it's prudent to search for raw materials. He also is reporting that he has had some minor labor issues with some of the workers." Walker announced.

"Is it serious?" asked Jones.

"Its not right now. I will keep an eye on it and speak with the council chairman." Tillman said knowing Lankaster Jorden was at the root of that problem. Jorden still has a few loyal people onboard. But that would have to be dealt with later as he wanted to move on to other issues "I have authorized the creation of the Colonial Fleet Marshal Service to protect all members of the civilian government. Among the survivors were three Colonial Marshals. They have recruited a few former police and security members bring their total to fifteen. They were sworn in yesterday and answers solely to the Chairman of the Council."

"Are they armed?" asked Keegan.

"Yes, they were issued each a sidearm, communication gear and protective body armor." Walker replied.

"We're going to send out recon missions to the edge of the this sector. We need to find Tylium, other raw minerals and the possibility of other colonial survivors." Tillman declared. "ADELPHIA, and PROTEUS will be assigned to this task. Each Guardian will deploy two raptors to their assigned sectors to search for any and all resources."

"How long?" Walsh asked as she was handed the mission parameters.

"Plan on ten days." Walker began, "Each raptor with be assigned two crews on a rotational basis."

"Both your ships will be assigned a half dozen vipers for standard CAPs. You depart in twelve hours." Roberts added.

**AULUS**

Cassidy Tillman was eating dinner in the Colony Lounge with her boyfriend Lt Ryan McMillan who was in the middle of a thee-day furlough to celebrate Cassidy's birthday. Last night McMillan asked Cassidy to marry him, to which she said yes.

"Just remember, we won't tell anyone and you'll let me tell my father when the time comes." Cassidy demanded.

"I promise!" Ryan replied repeatedly.

Lankaster Jorden was meeting with Thomas Sylvan in exercise room. It was the only place they could meet without drawing a lot of suspicion.

"I think I've found someone who could help us. He was once Ha'la'tha." Jorden said.

"Ha'la'tha? They were nearly wiped out forty years ago during the first Cylon War. How did you identify him? If he's is Ha'la'tha, he must be close to seventy!" Sylvan replied.

"It doesn't matter how old he is. He has associates that will do what even he says. He was picked up off a shuttle the day of the attacks. He said that he has made connections on a few ships." Jorden said as he carefully looked around the room.

"Could Ralls identify him? Would he go after Ralls?" asked Sylvan.

"No. He said that he's had no dealing with any members of the Cyrannus Syndicate. I'm not sure who he'd go after at this point." Jorden said as he gulped water from his bottle.

"Just make sure that its not Redmond or Lorene! We don't want this to come back in our faces!" said as he got up and walked away.

**TERTIUS – DAY 212 (0930 Hrs)**

Colonel Braylen Tillman had just finished giving Admiral Tillman, Cmdr Roberts and Major Nix a tour of TERTIUS. Both men had never had the time to see the ship before now. They had made their way to the forward storage area on the hanger deck. It was converted to a machine shop. Inside Braylen's crew was repairing the old Javelin scout ship. They were waiting for Major Spencer to join them.

"I remember training in one of these." Roberts asked as he looked inside the two-person cockpit. What's her condition?"

"Her forward RCS Thrusters and main electrical system were junk. We rewired her and replaced her power plant with a newer one that had a FTL unit from a scrapped shuttle. We also updated her sensor package. We plan on testing her in a few days." Braylen said proudly.

Jason was amazed at the work his brother had done and that is why he was picked for the upcoming mission. "Braylen, we have a mission for TERTIUS." He said.

"Am I going after Wright?" Braylen asked.

"No, I'm letting that go." Jason began. "You're going to jump far ahead of us. Deep recon."

"At the time of the attack, elements of the 43rd and 56th Battlegroup were engaged in war game maneuvers in a sector not too far from the colonies. We want you to check it out and see what's there."

"What makes you think that they're still alive after seven months?" Braylen asked.

"We doubt they are but we need to be sure." Jason answered as he walked inspected the Mark I viper that was also nearby.

"At least four battlestars were part of those exercises. I know the tactics of one of the commanders, Elise Hedison commands the POLYCAON. I trained her. She would have shut down her network and gone manual during the war games. If the Cylons attacked at the right time her battlestar would have been unaffected by the CNP virus." Commander Roberts explained.

"All your going to do is send in the raptors to take a look and then jump deep into the Sigma Sector." Roberts informed Braylen as Spencer joined them.

"How deep?" Major Spencer asked.

"Deep enough. My father used to tell me about how over fifty years ago was part of a deep space expedition that charted a few quadrants of the Sigma Sector and noted several large asteroid belts." Roberts began. "They could contain tylium and other raw materials. Once the war broke out we never went back to this area."

"Because it was deep in Cylon controlled space after the armistice line was created." Braylen said as he opened up a chart Roberts handed him. "Why go now?"

"Two reasons, it would be the last place the cylons would look for us and those asteroid belts were part of a war college scenario from over forty years ago." Roberts explained. "My team used those asteroids to retreat from a cylon battle. Commander Joseph Massie who now commands the battlestar NEMESIS was part of my team back then."

"It's a big reach." Braylen began, "What do I have for resources?"

"Four raptors of which two are stealth, ten additional vipers and Commander Roberts." Jason said as Braylen turned towards is brother.

"I would only be an observer. I trained most of the officers in the 56th battlegroup. You need a friendly face." Roberts stated.

"Alright, it's going to be a little cramped but we'll find the space." Spencer announced.

"When do we leave?" asked Braylen.

"The vipers and raptors are prepped and ready, they can be here within the hour. TERTIUS can rendezvous with CARPUS and top off her fuel cells an hour later." Jason told his brother.

Braylen turned to Major Spencer and told him to bring Colonel Marcus up to speed. They would need to move fast to transfer the non-essential personnel and equipment to HYPERION. As the men were walking out Braylen stopped his brother and looked back at the two Mark I vipers.

"It just occurred to me that I need all the room I can get for this mission." Braylen began with a smile, "How would you and Nix like to fly them to HYPERION?"

**HYPERION – CIC (1115 Hrs)**

"Colonel McKnight, dradis identifies two Mark I vipers inbound from TERTIUS. No flight plan was filed." Major Canton reported from tactical.

"Ensign McCall, raise the vipers on wireless and ask them to identify!" McKnight requested.

"**Colonial Mark I vipers identify! Repeat, identify!**" McCall announced.

"HYPERION this is DODGER and THUMPER on approach from TERTIUS! ETA in thirty-five minutes, will contact on final, do you copy?" Tillman said with a noticeable joy in his voice.

To say there was surprise in HYPERION's CIC would be an understatement. After a moment McCall finally responded. "Um, yes Dodger, copy that."

"Why so long?" Major Canton whispered to Dyson (tactical officer).

"The last time the Admiral was in a viper cockpit was almost a three years ago. He'll give the fleet a once around." Dyson said knowing how much Tillman missed being able to fly every once and a while.

McKnight then told McCall to contact CAP three and divert from their interfleet patrol to tail the two vintage vipers in case any problem should arise. As word quietly spread about the special flight, people had gathered in the hanger bays and waited for the two vipers to appear from the flight deck. As Admiral Tillman disembarked for the viper people started to clap. Tillman jested for the crowd.

"Chief Perry, Make sure these your crew takes special care of these birds. I don't want to listen to my brother if something happens to them." Jason barked as spotted his wife among the crowd.

"Should I even ask?" Anne asked as her husband approached her.

"They needed to be transferred off TERTIUS immediately due to a mission." Jason responded as he handed part of his flight suit to a deckhand.

"Jason, those vipers are over fifty years old! What is something happened? Where's John?" Anne retorted.

"Actually they're closer to sixty." Jason said trying to hold the smile back. "Don't worry Braylen restored them personally. They handled beautifully." Before they could discuss this any further Captain Dyson interrupted them.

"Excuse me, sir, everything is a go. Everyone is ready on the other flight deck." He said.

"All right, I'll be there in ten minutes." Tillman told Dyson before dismissing him. After he left Jason continued.

"John is onboard TERTIUS. He's accompanying Braylen." Jason finished as he buttoned is jacket.

"You're searching for more survivors aren't you"? She said knowing her husband's methods.

"That's part of it. John's father charted the area and is familiar with the upcoming sectors." Jason said as they headed towards the other hanger.

A few minutes had past and Jason was entering the hanger as Colonel McKnight was finishing the mission parameters.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Colonel Tillman is in charge of this mission. Major Spencer is his CAG; Cmdr Roberts is an observer unless designated differently by Colonel Tillman. That is the command structure of this mission. You are going deep into cylon territory to hunt for more resources that this fleet needs to survive. Do your jobs and come home! Good luck!" Tillman said as he proceeded back towards the main doors.


	2. Chapter 2

**TERTIUS – CIC, SEARCH GRID 273 (1300 HRS. – DAY 212)**

"Jump complete. Dradis clear. Sir, we are now one sector away from the armistice line." Lieutenant John Carter who had been the tactical officer since TRINITY's destruction announced.

"Good, have the CAG prep the raptor crews and get them launched ASAP." Braylen ordered.

"**All stations secure from jump. Landing bay, prep all raptors for launch. Flight crews report to ready room for final briefing!**" Marcus announced over the ships' address system.

**AULUS – COUNCIL CHAMBERS (1400 HRS.)**

The council had been in session for five straight hours. Among them was Lt. Walker. They were discussing the military control of industrial ships within the fleet. It was a hot topic issue. Crimmons, Davenport and Sylvan were in favor of demanding that control be returned to the civilians.

"Admiral Tillman has no right to keep them under their control." Crimmons barked.

"Mr. Jorden is requesting that CARPUS be returned to his control. After all, it is his property." Sylvan announced.

"CARPUS and the CONVEYER are vital assets of the fleet." Blythe asserted. "Right now our main concern is our survival. Admiral Tillman has protected those ships along with the civilian fleet since the day we were found. It was his recommendation to take the automated systems offline on MYSTIC and make everyone in the fleet pull his or her own weight."

"Our main concern should be health and welfare of our lives and trying to be productive within our fleet." Lorene said.

"We need to create some type of economy! There are men and woman of high economic standing that have work hard to attain that level and are now reduced to manual labor." Davenport countered.

"Well, a little bit of hard work won't kill them." Lorene muttered.

"We'll stay the course for now. " Redmond began before being interrupted by Sylvan

"Mr. Chairman, I think…"

"Mr. Sylvan, I stand by my decision. We'll table this discussion of this issue until something breaks. Next issue." Redmond said with a strong and stern voice.

"Mr. Chairman, What is our current heading?" Mr. Davenport inquired.

"Right now we're heading towards the Sigma Sector. Admiral Tillman has reason to believe that this sector can provide us with needed raw minerals." Redman replied.

"That is deep within cylon territory." Davenport responded.

"Right now, we're in cylon territory." Lorene interjected.

"I think that the council should have a voice in where the fleet should be heading. Admiral Tillman has us pointed in the wrong direction." Crimmons said as she looked across the table.

"Councilor Crimmons, What would the right direction be? The cylons right now are everywhere in our home system. We have all seen the data. We thought we were safe in at Naylor Station. Recon missions have been sent back to the colonies and the cylons are still there. Tillman's people were the ones to find the CONVEYER, which currently refueled the entire civilian fleet. Now he recommends that we need to search for materials to replenish the fuel stores and I support that decision." Redmond countered.

**TERTIUS (1500 HRS)**

After securing from the jump, TERTIUS launched all raptors and began its mission. Also on the agenda was the first extended test flight of the newly restored Javelin scout craft. Major Jonathan Spencer and LTJG Michael Roberts were its test pilots. They were sitting on the flight deck waiting for a go.

"CIC this is Shadow, waiting for your GO!" Spencer said over the open wireless.

"Shadow/LSO, You are cleared for dust-off! SAR Raptor is in position."

"This should be interesting." Lt Roberts who was sitting directly behind the pilot said as Spencer powered the Javelin of the flight deck and passed through the flight pod and into space.

"Power levels stable, dradis and KEW online." Roberts reported.

"CIC/Shadow, She has a tight stick and has a slight pull to starboard but it's nothing major. We're going to open it up!"

Spencer proceeded to put the Javelin to the test through banking and abrupt turns as the SAR raptor kept a safe distance. After about thirty minutes Spencer ordered the raptor along side to test the Javelin's outright speed. Spencer found that, although the raptor was slightly faster, the Javelin was more maneuverable.

"Power is stable, no signs of structural defects." Roberts announced.

"CIC/Shadow, I would like to proceed to phase three. Do you copy?"

"Shadow/TERTIUS Actual, You have a go!" Tillman responded after a moment.

"What's phase three?" asked Cmdr Roberts who was standing next to Braylen in CIC.

But before he could answer Carter who was monitoring the dradis barked, **"Javelin has jumped to the rendezvous coordinates!"** Cmdr Roberts was surprised. He did not expect a jump so soon and voiced his concern about protocols.

"**SAR raptor, you're clear to proceed to rendezvous with Javelin 0230!**" Markesan relayed via the wireless.

"John, remember most of my crew is not military. This is their specialty!" Braylen began quietly. They are the best at what they do. I have and I will follow almost every military command protocols, but I didn't feel this was one of them. Don't worry Mike will be fine."

John knew Braylen was correct. "Maybe my concern was more from a fatherly than military." he thought to himself. He also knew that Braylen's men had rebuilt the Javelin and the work was outstanding as was all the work these men had preformed over the last several months.

After twenty or so minutes the two small ships jumped back to TERTIUS and landed in the hanger bay. The test flight of the Javelin was deeded a success.

**HYPERION (2145 HRS)**

Jason Tillman was just climbing into bed. He had spent the last two hours reviewing personnel reports. Anne had just returned from pulling a shift in sickbay. Anne was pulling a regular shift to help cover it only took a few minutes for her to join him.

"How was it?" he asked.

"Well it was kind of quiet. I spent the last hour in the gymnasium on a treadmill." She said as she exited the small bathroom.

"Have you seen Major Jackson recently?" He asked his wife as he put the folder down as watched her climb into bed.

"She was actually down in the gym tonight. Why?" Anne asked.

"I was thinking of making her second officer of HYPERION." He responded

"What of Major Canton?" she responded.

"Braylen needs a executive officer. Carter's been filling in but I would like an experienced officer to back him up." Jason explained as he reached up and turned off the reading light over his bed.

**RAPTOR 619 – SEARCH GRID 197 (DAY 225 – 2245 HRS)**

Tom "Tico" Addison was trying to repair a communication drone in the back of the raptor. The drone was modified to act as a relay so it could extend the range of the raptor's dradis system. Dina Timmons was manning the raptor's helm and Adam Russell, a former deckhand, now assigned to the Viper Training Squadron, was picking up valuable training hours was monitoring the dradis in the back. They were almost finished searching there assigned grid when the drone failed.

"Any luck? You've been screwing around for hours." Dina asked.

"No. I think the transmitter is burnt out. These drones weren't designed for repeated use." Addison responded as he tinkered inside the casing.

Dina laughed and as she picked up the book she was reading. But, before she could open it a warning buzzer sounded on dradis.

"The other drone is pinging multiple contacts. No energy signals" Russell said as she looked at him.

"Let's see what it picked up. Plot a intercept course into the NAV computer and recall the drone." Addison ordered as he moved up front.

"Shouldn't we notify ADELPHIA?" asked Russell.

"And tell them what? We need to checkout whatever that signal is." Tico began, "But spin up the FLT, just incase."

It took the raptor about twenty minutes to reach the coordinates and it immediately powered down its main systems. The three occupants of the raptor was shocked at the site of a graveyard consisting of at least six wrecked battlestars, their support vessels and hundreds if not thousands of bodies scattered as far as they could see.

"Should I power up? Russell asked.

"No! There could be cylons out there." Dina responded.

Tico had decided to just float for a while and take in the devastation. They drifted among the debris for over an hour scanning for any power signatures. Using his binoculars as they past the wrecked hulks, Russell started reading off the names of the battlestars.

"TYCHE, ANDANIA, CHIRON, OPHION, PAEON!" Russell offered as with each name his voice level dropped until it was slightly above a whispered.

"I can't make her ID plate out! Her pods are too badly damaged!" Timmons said as she tried to identify the last battlestar.

"Look at 1:00 o'clock! There's part of a flight pod. Can you make out what is?" asked Addison.

Russell could only make out the first three letters on the debris. It was NEMISES.

"We found the 56th Battle Group." Timmons responded.

"We found more than that. CHIRON and two of the other are from the 43rd. POLYCAON is missing." Tico said as he brought the raptor up to minimal power.

"Now what?" Russell asked.

"We're staying here and Lt. Timmons is taking the raptor back to inform TERTIUS. We're going to recover one of the raptors in the debris field to begin salvage operations." Addison ordered.

"What about the cylon? Timmons asked

"I don't think anyone has been around in a while. If one of those battlestars survived they would not have come here to survey debris for salvage fearing that the cylons would still be here. If the cylons were around they would have hit us the moment we entered the debris field." Addison said as he turned to Russell. "We need to cold start one of those raptors!"

**TERTIUS – CIC (DAY 226 – 0130 HRS)**

Braylen was still lying in bed half asleep when the old sound-powered phone buzzed. He quickly jumped up to get the phone before it woke up his family. On the other end of the phone was Lt. Kirby who had the watch in CIC. He informed Braylen that Addison's raptor had jumped back early without him and reported what they had found. Braylen ordered Kirby to assemble the senior staff and Timmons was to report to CIC immediately. As he was making his way through the corridors Colonel Marcus joined him.

"What's going on?" Marcus asked as they were jumping through the open doorways.

"Tico's raptor jumped back early. They found the 56th fleet!" Braylen responded as they entered CIC. Roberts was a couple of steps ahead of Timmons who sprinted up from the hanger bay.

"Sit-rep L-Tee!" Braylen asked Timmons!

"Sir, around 2250 hours one of our drones pinged multiple contacts with no power signals. We jumped in at a safe distance and basically coasted to the site. We found a graveyard of Colonial warships! " She responded as she was still trying to catch her breath.

"Which ones?" Roberts bellowed.

"TYCHE, ANDANIA, CHIRON, OPHION, PAEON and NEMESIS" She responded as tears were forming in her eyes. "Sir, there were thousands of people…." She started before being interrupted by Colonel Marcus. Roberts was visibly shaken by the news two of his oldest friends were in command of TYCHE and NEMESIS. During this Braylen was handed a folder of pictures that were taken by the raptor's cameras.

"Where's Addison and Russell?" he asked.

"Among the debris field there were multiple raptors. We assumed they were blown out the hanger bays during the attack. We were able to grab one of them, go through it for any type of cylon devices and then get it up and running." She replied as they made their way to the plotting table.

"Why stay behind?" Markesan asked

As Braylen and the others went through the pictures Major Coe who had remained silent and in the background spoke up.

"Recon. He's going to make a quick assessment of what could be salvageable and also he's acting as bait." He said.

"He knows it will take us a while to jump to his position. He probably doesn't think there are any cylons. But, he wants to make sure." Marcus finished.

"What about the POLYCAON? Commander Roberts asked, "She was part of the 56th."

"We couldn't find her among the debris field. Also, we couldn't account for battlestar GANYMEDES of the 43rd fleet and Berzerk Class escorts ARGOS and GALLIOTT are among the missing." Timmons replied as that news seemed to perk Roberts's attention.

"I don't see any basestars in these pictures? Why?" asked Marcus

"There were none. Only a few dozen raiders." Timmons replied gloomily.

Braylen was still focusing on the multiple pictures spread out to the plotting table. After a few more minutes he moved to the charts that were under all the pictures and turned to Marcus.

"When are the two other search teams due back?" Roberts asked.

"Two and a half days." Kirby answered.

"That's no good!" Braylen began as he turned to Colonel Marcus. "Lt. Timmons raptor prep needs to be prepped for a quick turn around. I want her to head to the area where ADELPHIA is searching, and then have them retrieve PROTEUS. We're going to the debris field!"

"**ATTENTION: NIGHT SHIFT, SET CONDITION TWO THROUGHOUT THE SHIP!**" Markesan announced over the address system.

It was over twelve hours before the two guardian class ships were located and joined TERTIUS. Braylen gave specific instructions to each of the commanding officers before they all jumped to the rendezvous point given to them by Lieutenant Timmons. The three ships jumped exactly where Addison's drone picked up the debris field. Braylen following Addison's suggestion of a stealth approach, cut all power with the exception of the FTL and coasted to the edge of the debris and waited and watched the dradis. After about fifteen minutes he nodded to his communication officer. Markesan adjusted the wireless frequency and gave the go-ahead signal. Braylen then up the phone receiver and keyed the transmit button.

"Tico this is Mustang, Do you copy?" as the entire CIC watched silently. Braylen waited a minute and repeated his query.

"Mustang, This is Tico!" The voice replied through the low hum of static. "Transmitting secondary identification codes now! Do you copy?"

"Receiving identification codes now. Identity codes match!" Markesan announced.

"Tico, sit-rep!" Braylen inquired.

"We've been up, down, around and through this graveyard almost a dozen times. No signs of life. No signs of toaster activity. It looks safe for now whatever happened here happened a long time ago. We're almost redline oxygen, requesting permission to return home?" Addison asked.

"That raptor still could be bugged." Carter pointed out to the group around the plotting table.

"He can use the ventral airlock until we can check that bird out." Roberts interjected." If the tinheads show up we can dump it quickly!"

Braylen liked that idea and ordered Addison to proceed to the ventral airlock and then report to CIC. Addison was in CIC within twenty minutes still wearing his flight gear. He received congratulatory handshakes as he made his way through the back of CIC to the front where Tillman, Roberts, Marcus, Carter and Spencer were waiting for him. Braylen commended him for his thinking and asked him to finish his report.

"Well I'm not sure what happened but it looks like they were caught off guard. It looks like the cylons jumped into the front of the fleet." Addison began, "ANDANIA, CHIRON, OPHION and PAEON took moderate hull damage, but the hanger bays suffered heavy damage. They were the main targets. We also noticed that almost all of their compartments were vented."

"Skin jobs!" Spencer blurted.

"Probably." Marcus responded.

"What about NEMESIS and TYCHE?" Roberts asked as the group were handed pictures taken from the recovered raptor.

"That's interesting!" Addison began as he was pointing to one photo in particular. "There's a good size gap between these destroyed vipers and raptors and those battlestars. NEMESIS and TYCHE are at the back of the grouping of battlestars. From their positioning and amount of damage it looks like they put up a fight. They were protecting anyone behind them."

"They bought time so whoever was behind them could get away." Roberts surmised.

"Well one of them was the battlestar GANYMEDES. The raptor we recovered was from her as well as a few of her vipers. I'm thinking that the raptor was blown off of her flightdeck. We also found Vipers from POLYCAON among the main debris field.

"What can we salvage?" asked Marcus softly knowing it was a morbid subject.

"Possibly a dozen raptors, a few vipers were left intact floating in the field. If we have the time we could board the battlestars and get food, ammo and spare parts." Addison replied.

"We could definitely use the ammo and food. Fleet reserves are low." Marcus added.

"We should be able to get into ANDANIA and CHIRON. Most of their damage is to the hanger bays and propulsion system.

"We have no other choice. We start salvage operations!" Tillman began. "Spencer, I want a six bird CAP around the debris field at all times also send out all our raptors as well!"

"I'm on it!" Spencer replied as he left for the pilot's ready room.

"Marcus, we need to prepare the hanger bay. Get it ready for multiple arrivals." Braylen ordered as he nodded to Roberts who had been writing a message that was going to be delivered to HYPERION.

"Understood, I'll have the electronics crews standing by as well." Marcus replied as he watched Roberts move to the communication area.

Roberts reached the Markesan and gave her an order. She then opened a commline to PROTEUS.

"PROTEUS this is TERTIUS, do you copy?

"TERTIUS, this is Actual. Go ahead." Major Timlin responded.

"PROTEUS, Transmitting encrypted data package! Scoop is a go!" Markesan ordered.

"TERTIUS, wilco!" Timlin responded.

A moment later (DAY 227 - 1421 HRS), PROTEUS jumped from its location aft of its guardian class sister ship ADELPHIA.

**HYPERION – (DAY 227 – 1300 HRS)**

Admiral Tillman was reading through his briefing reports in his quarters when his oldest daughter and his wife approached him. He was surprised to she her as he didn't know she was onboard. Jason stood and gave her a hug and asked what brought her here. After a moment they both sat down.

"We need to discuss something and I wanted to tell you myself." Cassidy began as she took her father's hand. "You know that I've been seeing Ryan McMillan for over five months now and over that time we've become very close…"

Just as she finished her last statement Jason was getting a very uneasy feeling and part of him was hoping it wasn't going in the direction it looked like it was heading.

"Two weeks ago he asked me to marry him." Cassidy finished.

Dead on…Jason thought to himself as he looked to Anne to see her reaction as well. He was a bit surprised at her lack of reaction.

"Just so you know, she told me first thing this morning when she arrived via shuttle." Anne said.

"Why wait so long to tell me? Why get married now? Why not wait to you're a bit older? Why isn't he here with you right now?" a stunned Jason asked.

"I wanted to gauge your reaction. You have a lot of responsibility and if you were tired or stressed I didn't want a crazy reaction, sort of like the one you're having now." Cassidy said as she sat next to her father, "Look at us, who knows what will happen. I've found someone that I love. He loves me as much as I love him. Who knows what tomorrow will bring us? I want this."

"Have you given any thought to where you will stay?" Jason asked.

"I spoken to Dr. Keegan and asked to be placed on rotation in sickbay and with HYPERION being understaffed with officers there are a few of the larger officers rooms available." She answered.

"What about your sister Kayla?" Jason questioned.

"She's all for it. She plans to stay on HAVEN." Cassidy responded.

"How do you feel about this?" Jason asked his wife.

"Jason if this was before the attacks, I would have said that she's to young and should be start her career, but its not. All I know is that we raised our children correctly and if this is what she wants in this life now then I'm not against it." Anne said as she smiled towards Cassidy.

Jason was perplexed by the whole situation. He was a bit old fashioned and he also didn't want his daughters marrying into the service. Times had changed. He slowly realized the life he wanted for his children was gone and in its place would have to be something else. As Jason was going to speak his phone rang. After a moment he answered.

"Admiral, We just received a report of a explosion onboard GEMINON 1586. Councilman Blythe was injured. He's been evaced to JUNO." McKnight reported.

"I'll be right up." Tillman informed his XO.

Jason grabbed his shirt and proceeded to put it on and while watching his daughter. A moment later he told her that he wanted McMillan to ask him for his daughters' hand before congratulating them as he gave his wife a wink of the eye before leaving the quarters. The only thing Jason thought to himself as he made his way to CIC was that he only wanted what's best for his children, if they were able to find happiness now with the situation they were in he was not going to stand in the way.

"Admiral in CIC!" bellowed a marine station at the entrance.

"Sit-rep, XO!" Tillman asked.

"At, 1357 hours there was an explosion in the hanger bay airlock of GEMINON 1586. Three dead, eight injured, two critical including Councilman Blythe. Medics quickly stabilized him and he was transferred to JUNO. He's in surgery right now. No word on his condition." McKnight reported

"What about the other Council members?" Jason asked.

"The Colonial Marshall Service (CMS) reports that they're all secured including their families." Ensign McCall reported from the comm station.

"Prepare to send a team over to examine the scene. I want to know what hap..." Tillman began before he was interrupted.

"_**UNKNOWN TARGET JUST JUMPED INTO RANGE**_!" Dyson bellowed.

"Contact is transmitting Identification Codes! It's PROTEUS! McCall reported.

"Get PROTEUS Actual on colonial priority one channel! Tillman ordered as he grabbed a handset from the side of the plotting table.

"HYPERION Actual this is PROTEUS. Copy your request. Actual standing-by" The voice responded.

"Admiral, a little over a day ago a search team from TERTIUS found the what was left of the 56th and the 43rd fleets near the Armistice Line near the Sigma sector. Six destroyed battlestars and numerous support ships as well." Timlin reported.

"Which battlestars?" Tillman asked.

"ANDANIA, CHIRON, OPHION, PAEON, TYCHE and NEMESIS. We also have two battlestars unaccounted for. " Timlin stated.

"PROTEUS has begun transmitting data packets," McKnight reported

"Which ones?" Admiral Tillman inquired.

"POLYCAON of the 56th and GANYMEDES of the 43rd are missing as well as two Berzerk Class Escorts." Timlin began, "Commander Tillman has begun recovery operations focusing on vipers, raptors and munitions."

"PROTEUS Actual, job well done. Transmit jump coordinates and take position gamma within the fleet. HYPERION Actual out." Tillman finished.

"Wilco, HYPERION. PROTEUS out!" Timlin replied.

"Ensign McCall," Admiral Tillman began, "Get on the horn to JUNO and request that Commander Jones and Major Voight onboard HYPERION in twenty minutes and set condition two throughout the ship."

It wasn't long before Jones and Voight joined McKnight, Nix and Council Chairman Redmond in the wardroom.

"Commander Jones, in less than thirty minutes you will be in charge of the fleet." Tillman began rather bluntly. "TERTIUS has found the remnants of both the 43rd and 56th fleet. HYPERION and TESTRA (electronic vessel) will be joining TERTIUS and expedite salvage efforts. I will send ADELPHIA back as soon as possible to help protect the fleet."

"I understand." Jones acknowledged.

"Major Voight, you'll be fleet CAG. You'll need to make room for Captain Baker's training squadron. I 'm not taking them with me." Nix declared as Voight shook his head to confirm the order.

"There's more." Redmond continued, "I have reason to believe that the explosion on GEMINON 1586 was an assassination attempt on councilman Blythe."

"Pick someone to run the investigation and coordinate with Lt Walker on AULUS. You can discuss it further with Chairman Redmond as he will be heading back to JUNO with you." Tillman stated.

"When do you leave?" Jones asked.

"Less than one hour. Baker's squadron is in the tube and ready to escort you back to JUNO" McKnight said as he ordered CIC to launch the squadron in the tubes.

**JUNO – (DAY 227 – 1723 HRS)**

"Sir, HYPERION acknowledges that they are ready for jump! Brice stated.

"HYPERION Actual is waiting on colonial channel delta." Lt. Barnes announced.

"This is Juno Actual." Jones replied over the handset.

"Commander Jones, I hereby transfer command of the fleet to you. Battlestar HYPERION is leaving formation for recon and recovery mission."

HYPERION Actual, wilco transfer of fleet command! Juno Actual is now command of fleet. Safe journey HYPERION, JUNO Actual out!" Jones replied.

A moment later HYPERION and TESTRA disappeared off JUNO's dradis.


	3. Chapter 3

**BATTLESTAR HYPERION – DEBRIS FIELD (DAY 227 – 1452 HRS)**

"Jump complete! Checking our position." McKnight reported.

"Multiple dradis contacts to port! Heading inbound!" Dyson bellowed from his station.

"Receiving multiple I.F.F., checking Colonial Recognition Codes!" McCall began, "All codes match our fleet!"

"Jody, get my brother on the line. Patch it in to this station." Admiral Tillman ordered.

"PROTEUS Actual on priority fleet channel one." Ensign McCall relayed.

"Braylen, sit-rep." Jason asked.

"We've started recovery operations. We've collected six raptors and eight Mark VI vipers. I have three teams processing them now. Early indications are that they're clean. I have three teams onboard CHIRON and one heading to ANDANIA. We're starting to get a little tight over here. We could use some space." Braylen reported.

"Why CHIRON and ANDANIA?" Jason inquired.

"They're the ones with the least amount of structural damage to their main hull. We've already started cleaning out the magazines, ammo lockers, sickbay, food storages and whatever else we can find. Most of that stuff is heading directly to ADELPHIA. Her cargo bay and hallways are filling up quickly." Braylen responded.

"Coordinate recovery efforts with Kester Rhodes onboard TESTRA. He brought three damage control teams with him. I would like them to take the overflow. Once that's done, send my raptor teams back. I'm going to need Raptors 5401 and 5402 for a mission." Jason ordered.

Jason turned to his XO and ordered him make sure ADELPHIA jumped back to the fleet within twelve hours and he would be sending a coded message to relay to Cmdr Jones. Jason felt uneasy about leaving JUNO and PROTEUS alone to protect the fleet.

**BATTLECRUISER JUNO – (1545 HRS)**

Commander Matt Jones was looking over the data sent to them by Admiral before he left to join TERTIUS. As he read over the damage report and securities' initial findings to GEMINON 1586 and he came to the same conclusions as Tillman. This was an assassination attempt on Blythe. With HYPERION gone, there was a great burden placed on JUNO and him. He needed to find out what was going on while protecting the fleet. Instantly he had decided that his XO should run the investigation. Before Jones left CIC he asked Brice to join him in his quarters at the end of his shift. It wasn't long before Jones made his way to sickbay to check on Blythe and the rest of the injured.

"Status?" Jones asked his CMO (Chief Medical Officer).

"We just finished patching up Pvt. McCord. He took a lot of shrapnel but he'll make it." Doctor Flood said as she started to remove her surgical garments.

"Keep me informed of any changes." Jones said as he exited sickbay.

As Jones made his way towards his quarters Colonel Brice joined him. The two talked about the fleet status as they entered the Commanders quarters. Matt reached above his desk and pulled out a half emptied bottle of liquor and two glasses. Brice recognized the bottle as it belonged to JUNO'S former commander who was killed in action almost eight months ago during the escape over Picon.

"I think I remember you telling me that you come from a family that was in Law Enforcement. Is that true?" Jones asked

"Yeah, My grandfather was an inspector for the Global Defense Department before the First Cylon War and my father for the internal investigation division in the fleet. Why?" Brice asked as he finished his drink.

"I'm hoping you inherited some of those investigation abilities. I need you to examine the explosion on GEMINON 1586. I want to know what exactly happened." Matt said as he tucked the bottle back on the shelf. "The explosion happened in a supposedly secured corridor. The Admiral and I want to know how it got there. Take whoever you need."

"Yes sir, I'll head over immediately. I'll only need Sgt. Ginnis." Brice said as he stood and prepared to exit.

Brice headed to his quarters where he opened an old footlocker and grabbed a few old grandfathers journals and then place a call to CIC. He told them to prep a raptor have Sgt. Ginnis meet him there. Brice and Ginnis left shortly after for GEMINON 1586.

**PAN GALACTIC 0993 "HAVEN" – (DAY 227 – 1930 HRS)**

Lankaster Jorden was beginning to make a scene in the ship's hanger port. Since the explosion on GL1586 all civilian traffic between ships were grounded.

"It's been four hours since the military halted civilian traffic. I have import business onboard AULUS!" he stated.

"I don't know what to tell you! When we get the go ahead you'll be the first one on the shuttle!" the port officer began. "This is my last warning, if you continue, I'll call security to have you removed from the waiting area."

Jorden backed off and went back to his seat near the hatch. He wondered if this could be related to his attempt to gain power within the civilian council

**BATTLESTAR HYPERION – "GRAVEYARD" (DAY 227 – 2110 HRS)**

Tillman was still at the podium in the Pilots Ready Room he had just finished a briefing Lieutenants Addison and Brock and their ECO's Timmons and Beck on their next mission. They are to jump ahead to the massive planetary debris fields where Tillman and Roberts are hoping POLYCAON is hiding and search for her.

"Why the stealth raptors?" Brock asked.

"These raptors will get you there in two jumps instead of three. Don't forget no colonial ship has jump into this area since before the first war. We have no idea about cylon defenses behind the armistice line." Tillman answered.

"What do we know about the debris field?" Addison inquired.

"Really not much at all. It was located well over fifty years ago by a mining ship commanded by my father. Theory was that thousands of years ago, there was a shift in the gravity field of one of the planets that caused one of the moons to lose orbit and crash into the planet. Initial surveys found high amounts of tylium." Roberts replied.

"What if we find the POLYCAON?" asked Timmons.

"Jump back immediately and HYPERION will make first contact. We don't know what shape they're in. They might just start shooting at an unidentified dradis contact." Tillman answered.

"What if we find the cylons? What are our orders?" Brock asked.

"Recon only, Understood?" Roberts responded.

"Yes, sir!" The four responded in unison.

"Go get something to eat. Skids up in one hour." Tillman ordered as the crews left the room.

**BATTLECRUISER JUNO – (DAY 227 – 2145 HRS)**

"Jones, go ahead." The commander said as he placed the receiver to his ear.

"Sir, I have Colonel Brice on a secured line from GL1586." Said the communications specialist.

"Commander, My initial findings confirm the Admirals' suspicions. We've inspected the damage, and to me, it looks like it was a controlled explosion. Ginnis found what he thinks is part of the detonator. He said that it looks like the type geologists use. It looks like it was placed behind one of the lighting panels. We're still checking out some leads." Brice reported.

"Alright, Keep me informed of your progress and watch out. The more information you gather, the bigger target you become." Matt reminded his XO.

Matt knew he had to open the civilian traffic between the fleet to calm the nerves of the civilian populace. He ordered that GL1583 be quarantined and kept separated from the rest of the fleet.

**AULUS – (DAY 228 – 0045 HRS)**

Lankaster Jorden headed to the Colony Lounge looking for Sylvan. He had just disembarked the shuttle from HAVEN (Pan Galactic 0993), after a few minutes he reached the lounge and ordered a drink. While he waited he slowly browsed the half empty bar and spotted Sylvan who was playing a game of triad with four other people. Sylvan saw Jorden at the bar and after a moment folded his hand and excused himself from the game. Jorden waited as Sylvan ordered a drink and then wanted to know what has going on with the investigation.

"From what I'm told, two officers from JUNO already figured out that the explosion was deliberate. They're asking questions." Sylvan said before taking another belt.

"Can they link the bombing to us?" Jorden asked as he signaled the bartender for another glassful."

"They wont. They'll be pointed in a different direction. My contact is going to make it seem that it was the act of a despondent refugee that committed suicide after the fail attempt on a council member" He replied.

"They better or else we'll be air locked!" Jorden said as he placed his glass on the bar and left.

**BATTLECRUISER JUNO – Wardroom (DAY 230 – 0845 HRS)**

Brice and Ginnis were sitting as Jones finished reading the report. They came to the conclusion that it was an assassination attempt on a sitting council member and it was most likely a conspiracy.

"What makes you think it was a conspiracy?" Jones asked.

"Too many variables. How does a maintenance worker know how to make a detonator and get a hold of explosives?" Ginnis replied.

"We then find our suspect who just happens to commit suicide with a Ha'la'tha dagger?" Brice finished.

"It doesn't make any sense, someone is not what they seem. I'm sure the Admiral will want to investigate this further when they return. " Jones said as he finished the report and dismissed Ginnis.

"What's the latest with HYPERION?" Brice asked after Ginnis departed.

"As of 0300 hours: They were still at the scene of the battle. They reported that TERTIUS and TESTRA have recovered and processed eight Raptors, twelve Vipers, and two tanker-birds. They've been working non-stop since jumping."

"They must be starting to get cramped." Brice remarked.

"They are. Admiral Tillman requested two Military Freighters be cleared of civilian refugees and sent to aid them in the process. They've also recovered a large amount of heavy ordnance and enough medical supplies to last the fleet for years." Jones said as he poured both of them a drink of water.

"Any sign of the two missing battlestars and any word on when the fleet will rendezvous with them?" Brice asked reached for the glass.

"None yet. But, they've only searched about ten percent of the planetary field. Admiral thinks that for the time being its safer and besides… it's not a pretty sight." Matt finished.


	4. Chapter 4

**BATTLESTAR HYPERION – CIC (DAY 238 – 2245 HRS)**

It had been over ten days since Tillman sent his stealth raptors on their mission during that time; the salvage teams had recovered and processed almost three-dozen raptors, over eighty vipers and a few other smaller ships. When space was becoming an issue on the port hanger bay, the deck crew had to reassemble the battlestar's hanger rack system that had been in storage for almost twenty years. Over eighteen scavenger teams had almost completely stripped the wrecked hulks of heavy ordnance, small arms, medical supplies, food, clothing, and any piece of useful equipment possible. It was at the same time Braylen Tillman made a suggestion to Jason about beefing up the battlestar's offensive and defensive capabilities by installing additional anti-ship gun turrets along her spine and forward bow like the ships of her class had in the first war. Jason had considered this before. He knew that the turret's loading systems were still in place, but were capped off after she went in service. He did not think it practical at the time only having four that were in storage. But, after seeing the devastation of the two fleets floating in front of them, he changed his mind. Construction crews were able to install six turrets along the ship's spine that were recovered from NEMESIS and TYCHE. These would be online within a week. They had now moved the rigging to the bow and were working on installing the last two that were in HYPERION'S storage hold. It was a daunting task and the effects were starting to take its toll on the crews. They knew it had to be done but it wasn't liked. One of the knuckle draggers referred it to "Fishing in the Dead Sea" and it stuck. Jason knew he was pushing his crews and had to give them a reprieve, so he ordered all crews stand down for six hours. They had just returned to work when the dradis warning sounded.

"**DRADIS CONTACT! TWENTY THOUSAND METERS PORT!**" Dyson bellowed!

"**ALL HANDS SET CONDITION ONE IS SET THROUGH OUT THE SHIP!" **McKnight announced.

"Getting Colonial identification code over wireless! It's Raptor 5402!" McCall announced.

"Get them on a secured channel and pipe it this console!" Tillman ordered.

"Flapper, sit-rep!" Tillman asked!

"Sir, we found two ARGOS and GALLIOTT!" Brock reported.

"What about GANYMEDES and POLYCOAN?" Tillman inquired.

"No sign of them," Powers hesitated.

"Where's Tico?" Tillman asked.

"He's about a klick aft of their position." Beck responded.

"Get your bird on the deck and get up to CIC!" Tillman ordered over the wireless as he turned to his XO and ordered condition two throughout the ship.

"**ATTENTION ALL HANDS, STAND DOWN TO CONDITION TWO!" **McKnight announced.

"Pull all data from the raptor and get it up here immediately." He began. "Open a secured line to TERTIUS. I need to speak to my brother."

Braylen was in his quarters on his ship when his phone rang. Jason informed his brother that they had located a group of survivors that included the two of the escort ships assigned to the 56th and 43rd fleet and he would be transferring command of the salvage operation to him while he was away. Jason suggested that he should focus on recovering as many vipers as possible and if need be, call in the rest of the fleet to help.

The senior staff was assembled near Command and Control Station by the time Lieutenant Brock and his ECO reached CIC. They were already looking over the data from the raptor.

"Talk to me Flapper!" the Admiral ordered.

"Sir, in addition to the two berserk class escorts we found One Fleet Tug, One Rescue and Salvage Ship, and One Replenishment Tylier with at least a half dozen or so civilian ships located deep in a planetary debris field. The two destroyers are book ending the fleet. It looks like they are trying to provide cover. From what we were able to see ARGOS has some moderate damage mid-ship ventral area." Brock reported.

"What about the other ships? What are they?" McKnight asked.

"Mostly liners or commercial vessels. But, one is an Theta class mining ship!" Brock responded.

"Just think if she's fully operational…we could dock her with CARPUS. What a boost to the fleet it would be." Roberts stated

"What about a CAP?" Dyson asked.

"We were onsite for almost forty minutes and one set of Mark VII's. Two of the civilian ships are powered down. The others must be trying to conserve what little resources they have. " Beck answered.

"Commanding officers?" Tillman questioned.

"According to fleet records GALLIOTT is Commander Dack Freeman and Jocelyn Keller commands ARGOS." Dyson reported.

"Jocelyn "Heels" Keller? McKnight inquired.

"Do you know her?" Roberts inquired.

"Yes, we were assigned to the YORKSHIRE about ten years ago." McKnight said as he found himself thinking about his past.

"Was there a personal relationship XO?" Roberts asked after seeing the look on McKnight's face.

Tillman pulled McKnight aside before he could answer and asked him out of earshot of the others. "Jim, we don't know what we'll find over there. We also don't know what state of mind they are in. I need to figure out what type reaction she'll have good or bad. So I need to know if she might be receptive to seeing you or open fire on us after hearing your voice."

McKnight nodded and knew what Jason meant even before finishing. "We didn't part on the best of terms. I don't think she'll fire when we jump in, but her finger will be on the button." He finished as they return to the others.

"What's the status of the of the construction crews topside?" Jason asked

"Rhodes reports that the bow turrets are locked down in place. The hull around the turrets is still exposed. No plating installed." McCall relayed.

"Tell him to get his crews inside and focus on getting the new mid-ship turrets online!" McKnight instructed.

"Alright, we're going right now. Captain Dyson plot us a jump within six thousand meters of the reported position of the ARGOS and begin jump prep!" Tillman ordered.

"**ATTENTION ALL HANDS! MAKE READY FOR COMBAT JUMP! CONDITION ONE IS SET THROUGH OUT THE SHIP!"** Major Canton relayed throughout the ship.

"Omega and Eagle squadrons are in the tubes and ready for launch! Echo and Wetbacks are standing by." McKnight responded.

"All batteries are manned and ready." Dyson announced.

"I want all birds launched and scattered within that fleet!" Tillman began, "Jody, I want a you to broadcast our colonial ID and a challenge to all military ship upon arrival!"

"Board shows green! Ready for jump!" Commander Roberts announced to Admiral Tillman as he nodded his head.

"**ATTENTION ALL HANDS COMBAT JUMP in 4…3…2...1...NOW!"**

In an instant HYPERION was transported within the planetary debris field and immediately started to launch her vipers.

"They're spinning up their FTL drives. One of the Escorts is taking a defensive position in front of the others." Dyson reported!

"**ATTENTION COLONIAL SHIPS, THIS IS COLONIAL BATTLESTAR HYPERION. YOU ARE ORDERED TO STAND DOWN!" **McCall ordered over the wireless.

"Sir, We're getting radiological alarm! They got a nuke!" Dyson reported from his tactical station.

"Warn them that we will fire!" Tillman ordered

"**ATTENTION, THIS IS COLONIAL BATTLESTAR HYPERION. YOU ARE ORDERED TO STAND DOWN! WE ARE TRANSMITTING COLONIAL ID. IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" **McCall ordered over the wireless.

"This is ARGOS, please retransmit recognition codes to verify." The voice responded.

After another moment without a word, the radiological alarm on HYPERION went silent and in the background over the wireless they heard ARGOS order the other ships to hold the jump.

"Battlestar HYPERION, ARGOS actual is requesting to speak to your actual." The voice requested.

"This is the actual." Jason responded.

"This is Commander Jocelyn Keller to whom am I speaking with?" the female voice asked.

"Commander, I am Jason Tillman, commanding officer of the HYPERION. What is your status?" he asked as he chose his words knowing that they would have no idea about his field promotion by the late Admiral Greene.

Our status is that we're barely operational. Last reports had the HYPERION on a deep space survey mission. How did you find us?" Keller asked.

"Commander, we will have time to go over everything. What is your status?" Tillman asked.

There was a short pause before Keller responded. "We are in need of a medical supplies and food. Most of my medical staff was killed some time ago. All the other ships are in tough shape."

"Commander, I'm sending a Medical shuttle staffed with a triage team along with a raptor to pick you up. We have a lot to discuss. In the meantime I will contact Commander Freeman as well." Jason said looked at those around the CIC.

"Commander Freeman and most of his staff were K.I.A. during the initial attacks. GALLIOTT is mostly manned by my staff and civilians." Keller replied somberly over the wireless.

"I understand. Our team will launch within fifteen minutes. Please inform the rest of your ships that we will contact them once you deem it safe." Jason replied as his mood had changed.

Jason stood silent at the plotting table taking in his conversation with the commander of the ARGOS. After a moment he asked the senior staff for their opinions.

" I would be leery of them. She sounded spent." Canton offered.

"Where are the battlestars? Why didn't she give a sit-rep?" Dyson posed.

"What shape would you be in given the limited resources available?" Roberts countered.

"Jim, you know her. You served with her. What do you think?" Jason inquired

"A battlestar that was on a deep space assignment appears out of the blue. She doesn't know anything about us so she's searching through her records and probably doesn't recognize any names. She has her back up against the wall and she's on edge, it makes her dangerous. I think she needs to see a familiar face." McKnight replied.

"So would I, in her shoes I'd have my finger on that nuke as long as possible." Tillman began, "Jim, I want you on that raptor. She knows you even if she's pissed. You're that familiar face."

"Yes sir." McKnight responded as he bolted for the hatch.

Admiral Tillman turned to the rest of the staff around the plotting table and announced that he going as well. "I need to earn her trust as well!" he began. "Commander John Roberts is in command while I'm away, dismissed." John acknowledged Jason order and moved to the Dradis monitor as Jason exited CIC.

"Inform the launch bay that Admiral Tillman is on his way." Major Canton instructed Ensign McCall.

Commander Roberts turned to Captain Dyson and told him to start to recall one viper squadron every twenty minutes until only a CAP and a set of alert vipers was left around HYPERION and that Omega leader was to escort the shuttle and raptor to ARGOS. By the time both ships cleared the flight pod the viper escort greeted them. Tillman made his way up front to the copilot seat, put on a headset, and opened a secure channel.

"Tico/Dodger. What did you see?" He asked as the stealth raptor that was still hidden nearby.

"I counted eight non-military ships guarded by the two destroyers and the other military vessels. Wireless is traffic minimal, mostly requesting supplies and help. They also have a botanical cruiser but its shot up pretty well." Tico responded.

"What about the mining ship?" Jason asked.

"I can't tell there been little if no activity coming from it." Tico replied.

"Maintain position and await further instructions." Tillman instructed as the raptor and shuttle were on final approach for ARGOS landing bay.

"So, how much do we tell her?" McKnight asked.

"Not, much right now. We need to find out about POLYCOAN and GANYMEDES. If she's forthcoming about them I'll read her in. For all we know, this could be another Helena Cain situation." Tillman replied.

The raptor and shuttle made their way through the dimly lighted flight deck and landed on the designated areas assigned by the destroyer's LCO. Once down, two large bay doors closed, one forward and one mid-ship. It wasn't long before the compartment was pressurized. Jason watched as one by one the bulkhead doors opened and armed crewmembers made their way towards the two ships.

"Well, I guess its show time!" Lieutenant Dooley mused as he started to open the raptor door.

Commander McKnight was the first to exit followed by Dooley and his ECO Ensign Alex Joyce. McKnight only took a few steps before he stopped and waited.

"Jim McKnight?" the woman's voice cracked.

"Command Keller." He replied sternly as he started towards his former flame. The two stood face to face as the hatred that over took their romance was gone. McKnight could see the relief in her eyes. They each saluted but before they could speak they gave each other a hug as a round of muted applause began.

"I though you were in command of one of a Guardian Class?" she asked.

"I was but that was a while ago. A lot has happened since the cylon attacks." He replied.

"How are you onboard HYPERION? What about Commander Tillman? I know that he was given command of HYPERION during her survey mission." She asked.

"Admiral Tillman will debrief you shortly." He started to say before he was cutoff.

"ADMIRAL?" she questioned.

"Yes, Admiral Tillman. Admiral Greene gave him a field promotion shortly before he died of radiation poisoning after the attacks." He replied knowing that Jocelyn had interned under Greene during the academy. "He's kept us alive and safe. He's a good tactician in battle as well. I respect and follow his orders without question or hesitation."

"**ATTENTION ALL HANDS! ADMIRAL ON DECK!" **Joyce bellowed as Tillman deplaned. Slowly everyone stood at attention as the Admiral made his way to McKnight.

Keller looked at McKnight with surprise as he nodded; she raised her hand to salute the commanding officer before her. "Jocelyn Keller commanding officer of the colonial destroyer ARGOS."

Jason returned her salute and then extended his hand and shook hers.

"I'm glad we found you commander. How can we help?" he asked.

"We have sick, wounded, hungry and understaffed." She said as she tried to make a quick assessment of him.

"With your permission, I have two medical teams with food rations and fruit on the shuttle." Jason replied as he nodded to Dooley, who in turn, gave the signal for the shuttle crew to open up.

"Commander, I'm sure we both have a lot of questions…" Tillman began. "I'm hoping Commander McKnight put in a good word on my behalf. But I need to know what happened."

"I understand." She replied as she saw the look of relief on most of her crew in the hanger bay. I can debrief you as walk to the brig. I need to show you and Commander McKnight something.

"Good enough, Lieutenant Dooley please coordinate with the XO and make sure everything get distributed and find out what else they need." Tillman ordered as they left. Two marines from the shuttle as an escort for joined the Admiral.

"Shortly after the war games concluded, Commander Pressman of the battlestar PAEON had decided to throw a victory party for the senior staffs of the 43rd battlegroup onboard his battlestar. He also invited Commander Massie, which I think was just to rub his nose in the victory. Each of the 56th sent senior officers to staff the rest of the 43rd as they celebrated. Sometime after the party began there was reported explosion and fire in PAEON's port hangers and then a massive decompressions through out the ship. Most if not all of her crew were killed instantly. Within moments four cylon baseships jumped in and began their attacks launching wave after wave of raiders. CHIRON and OPHION and most of the support ships were disabled rather quickly and were basically target practice for the cylons." She said as they made their way through the ship.

"Continue please…" Jason said softly.

"One of our tactics during the war games was to disengage our computer networks. Before going over to PAEON Commander Massie ordered the 56th to keep their networks offline and to run training drills as punishment for losing the war games. It was the only thing that kept us alive. TYCHE and NEMESIS were able to buy POLYCAON and GANYMEDES and the rest of us time even after their vipers were disabled. Commander Shannon of TYCHE ordered the rest of the ships to jump out of the battle. We only stayed at that location for a short time. Commander Hedison relayed another set of coordinates to the surviving ships and we came here."

What happened to the two battlestars and were did you find the civilians? Tillman asked.

"A few hours after the jump, Commander Garret Hartley was found to be the senior surviving officer and took command of GANYMEDES." Jocelyn began before being interrupted by McKnight.

"Hartley? He's a pencil pusher on Picon with no field experience!" McKnight howled.

"He was part of Admiral Corman's inner circle that included Commander Pressman who commanded the 43rd battlegroup and its lone surviving battlestar." She replied.

"GANYMEDES." McKnight replied.

"Yes. GANYMEDES lost the entire senior staff. But POLYCOAN was in worse shape losing a good majority of her crew and pilots. Most of her crew was augmenting the 43rd's battlestars during the attacks. I sent most of my crew to GALLIOTT. We were all running with skeleton crews. A few days later we jumped to the Aeolus asteroid belt around Helios Delta and found those civilians survivors. After a few months we discovered that cylons had taken human form and were spread throughout the civilian ships. We even found one on GANYMEDES. Hartley was furious and executed that one immediately. Little did we know that they could download and give away our position in a relatively short amount of time! Two baseships jumped in within one hour and destroyed two liners and most of the remaining viper protection before we could anything! Hartley was paranoid and blamed Hedison for the incident. For almost three weeks we hid in various areas of Helios Delta running from the cylons. During this time Hartley focused on keeping GANYMEDES staffed and ignored the rest of the fleet's needs which was getting under our skin. Two weeks ago the cylons found us and hit us hard. POLYCOAN lost most of her pilots in that battle. We were suspicious when Hartley summoned Commander Hedison to GANYMEDES but before she left, she sent us three captured cylons and half dozen pilots and ordered me to take the fleet and hide if something happened to her. When the shuttle returned to her battlestar it was actually full of two squadrons of marines sent to take over POLYCOAN. Shortly afterwards when it was announced that Commander Hedison resigned her commission we jumped back here. We know they are looking for us but can't find us." Commander Keller relayed as they continued through the ship.

"Why didn't you raid the hulks of the 43rd and 56th fleet for supplies? Tillman asked.

"During the first few days after the attack we sent a couple raptors back…they never returned. Hartley deemed the area unsafe and ordered us not to send anything else back there. We just don't have the manpower. Why?" She replied.

"We found the hulks a little over ten days ago. No sign of cylon activity." McKnight responded.

"What about Commander Hedison?" Jason asked.

"We don't know. When Hartley announced that he was sending representatives to each ship, I made the call to jump based on commander Hedison's warning! I also made the call to jump back to this debris field hoping to mine for fuel." she replied as the reached the outer hatch to the makeshift brig that was guarded by two marines.

"Commander, what is your survivor count and current resources?" the Admiral asked.

"Our fuel, food and water reserves are depleted. We do not have the resources to repair the botanical cruiser. We have over fifteen thousand survivors among ten operational ships you see here. Two had to be abandoned due to no fuel and the third melted its primary electrical buss. She replied as the marines opened the hatch. She answered as the hatch they just step through was locked from behind.

"How many cylon do you have? McKnight asked.

"We have nine cylons under heavy guard, let me introduce you to seven of our them. I recommend that if you decide to interact with them you watch what you say. They're sneaky." She retorted as she banged on the inner hatch.

"We know we've dealt with a few of them ourselves." Jason responded.

Tillman and McKnight followed Keller into the room and took in what he saw. In the brig were seven cylon prisoners. Separated into three cramped holding cells they contained five females and two males. Jason did not recognize one of the males and focused on him and the dried blood in his cell. They locked eyes and stood silent of a few minutes. Jason watched as the cylon finally stood and approached the front of the cell.

"Well, it looks like the stories of other survivors are true." He announced as he turned and looked at the other cylons told the other cylons that the initial attacks were more flawed than first anticipated if all these humans survived.

"If you let us go now, I promise your deaths will be quick. I have a lot of pull with our main fleet and they should be arriving soon." The male cylon said.

"Really? That should be something to see." Tillman responded.

"Let, me introduce myself. My name is John Cavil and you are?" The old looking cylon asked.

"My name is Jason." Tillman responded.

"And your last name is?" Cavil responded with a hint of impatience that Tillman was able to pick up on.

"I think that's all you need to know for now." He responded

"Really? Are we going to be this way? Just beating around the bush?" Cavil moaned as he rolled his eyes and returned to the bunk.

"Why are you in the cell by yourself? "Tillman asked.

"Apparently I don't play well with others." He responded with his back turned as he lay down causing Tillman to turn to Keller.

"When the news of your arrival circulated, he proceeded to try and rip the throat out of his cellmate." Keller answered as she motioned them to leave.

"And he should be downloading right now and be able to tell the basestars about you and this should be all over very soon." John responded as Tillman and the other exited.

Once the outer door was locked Keller told the Admiral that the cylon that Cavil tried to murder was still alive as they proceeded to the sickbay. As they walked Tillman suggested that the move the other surviving cylons to HYPERION where it would be easier to separate them and limit the flow of information. Keller agreed. As they entered the sickbay Jason was shocked again at what he saw but it wasn't the cylon who was the patient but the much older version of the known cylon version of the Simon clone treating him,


	5. Chapter 5

Editors Note: After watching BSG: Blood & Chrome we have learned that the Berzerk Class escorts might be considered as a destroyer type vessel. It also confirms that the Valkyrie type battlestar is older that the Mercury Class. I also asked Doug Drexler (BSG VFX guru) if the Galactica type battlestars could be considered a dreadnought type battlestar. He didn't confirm it but wouldn't dismiss the idea either.

**ARGOS (Berzerk Class Destroyer) – SICKBAY (DAY 239 – 0250 HRS)**

Tillman watched the older unshackled cylon checking the chart of the cylon patient identified as a Doral model that was strapped down. He guessed that the cylon appeared to look at least twenty years older than the ones pictured on the recon photos taken within a basestar months ago. This one was as bald as the others but had a salt and peppered beard and mustache. Jason also noticed a large scar on the back of the cylons' head located behind his left eat to the middle of his skull. The cylon turned and walked towards the trio but stopped short of reaching them as he looked at the new unfamiliar faces for a moment before addressing Commander Keller.

"He's stable for now Commander. As long as we keep him immobile he shouldn't be able to open up those wounds on his neck. We have enough drugs to keep him under for a few days." The old cylon told them.

"Good. If we keep him alive he won't be able to download. I would like you to stay with him and inform your guards if his condition changes." Keller instructed as they turned to the hatch. Once they exited McKnight was the first to speak.

"What the hell was that?" McKnight asked as he was still in shock.

"That is a very disgruntled cylon. According to him his own kind tried to kill him over twenty-five years ago. He went into hiding on Sagittaron and when the attacks began he made it out on a transport. That ship was later found adrift by POLYCOAN in the Aeolus asteroid belt. He spotted a cylon on her ship and he told Commander Hedison his true nature. He provided us with descriptions of six other models and we were able to capture them and lock them up with the exception of the one Hartley executed on GANYMEDES. After that one uploaded it sent a massive cylon fleet to destroy us. He is always kept separated from the others models. We found out that his type has medical training." Keller relayed as they mad their way to CIC.

"Do the other cylons know about it or him? Tillman asked.

"No. They have no idea about him. He also saved two of my crew members during the last attack on the ARGOS." Keller replied as they just stopped short of CIC entrance.

"Admiral, if I may, what are your intentions with us? So far I've answered all your question and given a sit-rep on our status but you haven't volunteered any information about your whereabouts for the last seven months." Keller asked abruptly.

"Commander, HYPERION is among five military vessels protecting seventeen civilian ships that contain almost nineteen thousand survivors. As a colonial officer it is my responsibility to protect those civilians and lead the men and women under my command to safety." He started before being interrupted by Keller.

"You're feeling me out. Judging whether we're worth the effort." She began, "Admiral, when I put on this uniform I also swore an oath to protect the colonies! I'm doing my best with the resources I have." She retorted.

"What would you do if you were in my position? You've been out here for over seven months." Tillman asked.

"Probably the same thing." Keller responded as she learned back on a console.

"I need to know if you're willing to follow the chain of command. You've been on your own for a while now. Some people would find that hard to surrender." Jason asked bluntly.

"Yes I would. I can't provide for my refugees. I swore to protect those people and I would die to keep that promise. I need help." She answered as she saluted her superior officer."

"Admiral on the deck!" an ensign announced as the CIC stood at attention. To which Tillman acknowledged.

"Comms, patch me through to the commanding officers of the other ships." Keller ordered as she reached for the handset at the plotting table.

"All actuals are on the line commander." The specialist replied.

"This is Commander Keller. As you are aware we have been found by the colonial battlestar HYPERION. Her commanding officer is Admiral Jason Tillman. He is now the ranking officer within this fleet of refugees. I made you a promise that I would keep you safe as long as I could. I believe this is our best chance of survival. I hereby relinquish command to him and will follow any and all orders given by his chain of command. So say we all! I would like you all to acknowledge my transmission. Keller out." She finished as she saluted Tillman in full view of the CIC.

One by one each of the ships' commanding officers acknowledge the change of command with a simple response of "So say we all!"

Tillman moved to the dradis console and picked up the handset. "This is Admiral Jason Tillman of the battlestar HYPERION. I once told my crew that we can only move forward and there is no going back. We must protect those civilians if the human race is to survive. I have made that promise to the fleet that HYPERION has protected and I make that promise to you. I will be sending supplies to each ship in the next few hours. Please stand by for further instructions." Tillman placed the handset back in its cradle.

"Commander, what's the condition of the Theta Class mining ship?" Tillman asked.

"TORO is the one with the melted electrical buss. She's running on minimal power with a skeleton crew. We don't have the parts to fix her." She responded.

"Within our fleet we rescued a Theta Class refinery ship capable of docking with TORO. Once docked CARPUS can augment TORO's power needs until she's repaired." McKnight answered.

"Commander, I need a status updated on rest of the ships." Tillman requested.

"We have three civilian star liners (MORING STAR, ENCHANTRESS, and CELESTIAL QUEEN) that are fully operational. Two heavy hauler transports (DORUS and TELEMON) The BELINDA is a sewage processing ship. The HELIA is a botanical cruiser. Only two of her twelve domes are functional. One civilian freighter and several traveler class ships. As I said before, we have almost sixteen thousand survivors including military personnel. " She replied.

"Commander, for the last ten days HYPERION and several other ships have been engaged in salvage operations at the site of the cylon attack on the 56th and 43rd fleet." Tillman began. "We have recovered well over one hundred vipers and over forty raptors. The rest of the civilian ships we are protecting are located in a sector not too far from that site and currently they are protected by the battlecruiser JUNO and two Guardian class ships." Tillman told her as he asked the status of GALLIOTT.

"There's less than a skeleton crew onboard her. She's manned by mostly nuggets and my tactical officer who's less than three years out of the academy. Keller told the Admiral and after a pause she added that the GALLOITT munitions stores were empty.

"How long have they been empty?" McKnight asked.

"Hartley had the stores transferred about two weeks before we ran. She's defenseless." Keller replied.

"Commander I would like to put an experienced crew on her. Do you have any objections?" Tillman asked.

"No, sir." Keller replied knowing that her ship would benefit from getting her crew back.

"Colonel McKnight, get back to HYPERION and reassemble your senior staff and crew that are still onboard and take any additional people from delta shift. I'm sending you to GALLIOTT. You will be in command until further notice." Tillman said as he turned to the specialist manning the communication station and requested a line to HYPERION.

"Shaker, this is Dodger. Send a raptor back a retrieve CARPUS and MF 139. Tell Captain Pyne we have a surprise for him. Colonel McKnight is also on his way back he will fill you in the rest. Tillman out."

"MF 139?" Keller asked.

"Military Freighter 139 is currently housing surplus ordnance recovered from the salvage operation. It doesn't make sense to add two destroyer class ships without any bullets to shoot." Tillman replied knowing the he knew about the secret Keller was hiding.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I sneaked a peek at the weapons status display on the auxiliary dradis console." Tillman replied as he continued to read through the ARGOS logbook.

**TERTIUS (Defender Class escort) – HANGERBAY (DAY 239 – 2150 HRS)**

Braylen has spent most of the day working along side his crew in the hanger bay inspecting recovered vipers for any cylon devices. His team was finishing up when Lieutenant Carter, his acting XO approached.

"What's the word?" Braylen asked.

"Since we took over recovery operations we processed and cleared eighteen vipers plus the ten you see here. We have fifteen more along with two raptors waiting on the flight deck with nine more vipers in transport. We can't keep up and were running out of space." Carter replied.

"I know with the additional teams HYPERION left we are getting buried. Pull two recovery teams and put them on the line. Have Major Spencer move the cleared vipers in the launch tubes so we can transfer them to JUNO once she arrives." Braylen told him as he signed off on the paperwork for the viper.

"Freighter 157 jumped in thirty minutes ago. They're sending two shuttles to OPHION. The scavenger teams were able to access the quartermaster and medical stores. They have sixteen pallets and thirty-six crates ready to go. I've also diverted traffic from ANDANIA was well." Carter said as he walked with Braylen to the next viper.

"What about ordnance recovery?" Braylen asked.

"They reached two magazines on OPHION and will start offloading shortly. No word on ANDANIA." Carter replied as he watch Tillman climb under the next viper.

"I want all that's recovered sent here until JUNO arrives or my brother returns. Move it into the cargo bay two." Braylen told his XO as he unbolted an access panel on the underbelly of the viper.

**JUNO (Protector Class Battlecruiser) – CIC (DAY 240 – 0600 HRS)**

"All ships with the exception of HAVEN (Pan Galactic 0993) have jumped to rendezvous coordinates near the recovery site." Lt. Barnes relayed from the tactical station.

"Haven reports that her FLT computers shorted out again. They'll need at least six to eight hours to repair." Brice reported.

"Tell them we're sending a team over to help. Send a raptor to TERTIUS and inform them of our situation." Jones ordered.

**ARGOS – HANGERBAY (DAY 240 – 0850 HRS)**

Jason had just arrived after taking a three-hour rest in the executive officer's quarters. He had been up for close to twenty-eight hours and realized he was running on fumes and had to rest. In the hanger was the last shuttle returning the final members of Keller's crew. He watched Keller interact with her crew for a moment before approaching.

"I see the last of your crew has returned." Jason said looking at the two of them.

"Admiral, Let me introduce you to my executive officer. Major Adian Roth." She said at the young man saluted.

"Were you able to get some sack time?" Jason asked the younger man.

"Yes sir, Colonel McKnight ordered us to sack out for at least six hours before releasing us. It was the longest sleep I can remember in a long time." Roth replied with a half grin. "I caught a glimpse of HYPERION an our final approach. Looks like you been in a few scrapes before finding us."

"We've been in a few battles and were able to hold our own." The Admiral said.

"Commander, I would like to debris you onboard HYPERION and for you to meet my senior staff." Jason ordered.

Keller acknowledged the order, as she knew it would be coming soon anyway. She ordered Roth to CIC, tasked him with updating the duty roster, and finish the ordnance transfer from the freighter. Both of them made their way to the LSO station above the flight deck.

"Sir, we should have a shuttle ready in twenty minutes." The officer said.

"Don't worry I have my own ride." Tillman responded as he grabbed a headset. "

LSO, switch to TAC frequency seven and key in decryption code alpha-three-six-delta-epsilon."

"Raptor 5401/Dodger! Do you copy?" Tillman said.

"Dodger/Tico, awaiting your orders." The voice said over the wireless.

"Sit-rep!" Tillman asked

"We've been on station for the last two hours. We are currently ten thousand meters aft of ARGOS." Addison replied as Keller and the LSO looked at the empty dradis monitor with doubt.

"Tico, approach and enter the landing deck, the ball is green!" the admiral ordered watching the aft flight deck through the window.

Within a minute the stealth raptor appeared from below the aft entrance of the flight deck and entered without setting off the dradis. Keller wondered why she never heard of one before. Jason explained to her that they were recovered from a black ops depot on Picon after the attacks. Keller and Tillman proceeded to the raptor after it landed and was moved to an airlock on the port side by a deck crew.

**Raptor 5401 (DAY 240 – 0940 HRS)**

Lieutenant Addison raptor was heading back to HYPERION with Admiral Tillman and Commander Keller when he asked the Admiral if he wanted to inspect the battlestar's new armament. Tillman who was sitting in the copilot's seat jumped at the idea and told him to change course. Tico acknowledged the order, veered the raptor toward the ship's bow, and plotted an ascending course right down the middle of the ship.

"I've only seen ship her class configured like this the history books." Keller she moved between the pilot's seats.

"HYPERION was the less than eighty percent complete when the first war ended. Most, if not all of her internal structure was completed when she was left in the construction dock to sit for two years before they decided to finish her. We are the only capital ship within our fleet. When the resources came available we mounted the salvaged turrets." Tillman commented as he watched the newly installed turrets rotate in unison.

"Major Roth was right. It looks like you seen your fair share of action." She said noting the scarring on the aft dorsal section.

"What do you know of other survivors? Tillman asked her.

"None. You're the first we seen since it all started." Keller said as the raptor passed the aft section of the battlestar.

"We know that there were at least two refugee fleets in addition to mine. One led by a Colonel Hawke onboard an old mono hull battlecruiser that disappeared right after the onset of the attacks and another led by Commander William Adama onboard GALACTICA with over sixty civilian ships." Jason began. "We also can confirm the survival of two other battlestars. Both are named PEGASUS."

"I met Commander Cain nearly two years ago during a conference. Is the other Admiral Cain's new battlestar? Where are they?" Keller asked.

"We found Commander Cain a few months ago and joined up for a few weeks. We conducted a raid on a major cylon listening post and uncovered information that the cylons were tailing GALACTICA's refugee fleet way past the promar sector. He wanted to see if he could find Adama." Jason told her and not choosing to reveal what they knew about what Admiral Cain and her crew had done.

"**Raptor 5401/HYPERION LSO, You are cleared to land on the port flight pod, Checker is yellow!"**

Tico acknowledged the order and proceeded to land on the yellow elevator. As Tillman and Keller disembarked the raptor in the hanger bay Commander Roberts greeted them. Tillman proceeded too introduce them and started toward CIC. Keller was surprised by the activity and the configuration of the port bay.

"Unreal. I've only seen film of how these bays were configured. Is the other bay configured the same? She asked

"No. We only had the materials for one. The rack system had been kept in storage. Once we started the salvage operation we reassembled it." Jason said as they boarded the tramcar.

"It looks like you have at five squadrons." said Keller.

"Six active on HYPERION, Nine throughout our fleet." Jason responded.

"Some were survivors picked up by a refugee fleet near LEONIS. They found us outside of the Hatari Nebula. Commander Cain recovered most of PACIFICA's vipers. He transferred them to us to help protect our civilians." Roberts answered.

"Commander Roberts, what happened to TRINITY?" She asked as the tram raced towards the bow.

"She was lost a few months ago in a skirmish." Roberts began. "Commander Keller, you've said that POLYCOAN was damaged in her last battle. What was her condition?"

"From what my CAP could tell, the aft starboard bays were heavily damaged and three of her eight sublight engine were out. She had taken a beating!" Keller replied as they stepped off.

"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Roberts asked.

"Possibly. But, we haven't gone looking either? I couldn't risk him finding us. Hartley became paranoid and blamed Hedison for his bad decisions." Keller retorted.

"Where could they be if they returned to the asteroid field?" Roberts asked.

"They could be at the far end of the asteroid field. We detected high deposits of tylium ore. Mercury Class battlestars have the basic resources to mine and refine tylium by themselves." She responded as they entered HYPERION's situation room.

"I'm sending three raptors to look for them." We need those battlestars to help protect the civilian fleet." Tillman relayed as they made their way around the map table that was displaying HYPERION's dorsal frame.

"The new turrets along the spine are operational. We've schedule firing drills within the hour. The new bow turrets should be online within a few days. We had to reinstall the forward loading system. These turrets do have limitations." Rhodes began, "The front row can only rotate sixty degrees from center each way and the back row can rotate ninety degrees each way from center. It's the way they were designed.

"Good job Captain!" Tillman said.

"GALIOTT reports security sweeps are complete and clear, computer security software is upgraded, munitions stores are full, weapon systems are online. They report that they have portside launch bays online and starboard should be up in four hours. ARGOS reports they just docked with the freighter and has begun offloading supplies. Also Raptor 601 and the shuttle has cleared their hanger with the special cargo." Captain Dyson reported from his console.

"Special cargo?" Keller commented.

"I'm separating the cylons. I think it too dangerous to leave them together." Tillman informed a surprised Keller.

"Which ones?" she asked.

"Almost all of them. The Cavil and Doral are staying on ARGOS. The five women and other male are coming here. As well as the older one."

"Sir, He's been helpful." She retorted.

"I understand and I keep that in mind. It is also the reason he's on the raptor and separated from the others. I want to know everything he knows. Tillman responded.

"What's the latest from TERTIUS?" The Admiral asked as he nodded to Roberts.

As Ensign McCall relayed the status of the recovery operation, Commander Roberts pulled Keller aside and relayed the details of Braylen Tillman and his ship, which lasted for fifteen minutes. In the end she had no issues accepting that information especially after dealing with Hartley.

"What did we miss?" Roberts asked after returning to the table.

"Most of the civilian fleet has rendezvous at the salvage site with the exception of HAVEN. She's having FLT computer issues again. JUNO is covering her. Recovery efforts are still ongoing. Braylen and his teams are still going through the battlestars and the their support vessels. They've filled two additional freighters.

"I still don't understand why the cylons didn't lay waste to the battlefield after the initial attack?" Keller mumbled.

"Arrogance. They came in and hit hard. They wanted to lay fear into the pilots who were trapped in those vipers. Cylons knew they would die of asphyxia." Roberts said with an angry tone.

"What about vipers and raptors?" Keller asked.

"Including what we recovered? Last check had it at over one and ten hundred vipers, thirty plus raptors and two tanker birds processed." Dyson reported.

"Problem is we have more vipers than pilots. We just graduated one squadron that had prior flight experience. Now we need to get volunteers from the civilian fleet and see what they can do." Roberts continued.

"ARGOS has over eight qualified pilots and I know POLYCOAN could have at least a dozen more. If we could find them…" Keller added.

"Have the raptor dock at the portside ventral airlock and escort the cargo to my quarters. It's time we question that cylon." Tillman ordered


End file.
